etf

Paying a few hundred dollars to cover an ETF has been done, but Sprint's new offer goes a little further. Starting today, the nation's (maybe) smallest carrier will pay "all" the costs associated with moving your number to Sprint, no matter what is owed. They are apparently serious because ctrl+f "$" returns zero results.

Are you tired of reading about some of the more nefarious developments at the Big Four US wireless carriers? Are you stuck in a two-year contract that you signed to get a steep discount on your phone? Are you ready to make a change to a carrier that at least pretends that it needs your business? Then Ting would like a word. The Sprint MVNO is doubling down on its offer to help pay off your early termination fee, up to $150.

Are you a Verizon customer? Are you due for an upgrade on your 2-year contract? Well, go in armed with the knowledge that any 2-year agreement signed from today forward is going to have a substantially awful...er early termination clause.

The base fee of $350 is remaining the same - that's the not-bad news (I mean, it's obviously not good news). The problem is that until you're 8 full months into your contract, that ETF doesn't start declining.

In between pointed jabs at the other national carriers, T-Mobile CEO John Legere announced the carrier's newest "Un-carrier" plan. As the rumors indicated, T-Mobile is going to pay the early termination fees (ETF) when customers switch to T-Mobile from Sprint, AT&T, or Verizon. Sounds great, but there are a few caveats.

Most of the time, major corporations like to cushion their words so that, in the event of a PR disaster, it's easier to walk back its statements. Today, an AT&T exec in charge of public policy decided to throw that caution to the wind and announce in no uncertain terms 'the Librarian’s ruling will not negatively impact any of AT&T’s customers.' Well. That sure is blunt.

We're not apt to take any AT&T rep at their word, and there are certainly some things to raise eyebrows over.

It looks like Sprint is changing the way things are done in order to keep up with the competition, which doesn't always translate into good news for the consumer. The early termination fee (ETF) is getting an overhaul that will go into effect on September 9th, which will bump the ETF on "advanced devices" (read: smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and notebooks) up to a maximum of $350, putting The Now Network's policy in line with that of VZW and AT&T.

T-Mobile's just released a Galaxy Tab-related announcement - and, surprise, surprise - their version of the tablet will be launching November 10th for $399.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate. Unlike Verizon, though, you'll be stuck with a two-year data contract during which you'll be paying a "qualifying rate plan," with the only currently visible route out of the plan being a pricey $200 ETF. To add to those nasty fees, you'll also be coughing up $35 upon activation, which doesn't make us too happy.